The Football Association has contacted Manchester City asking for them to respond to an offensive tweet that was sent by midfielder Bernardo Silva.
The tweet under investigation how now been deleted from Silva’s Twitter account. However, screenshots show that Silva compared his team-mate Benjamin Mendy to a character which appears on the packet of Conguitos, which is available in Spain and Portugal. Mendy responded to the tweet at the time and did not seem to be offended.
After he received a backlash from the tweet, Bernardo went on to tweet, “Can’t even joke with a friend these days”.
Manchester City have declined to comment, but anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out said “We are extremely disappointed to see the tweet posted by Bernardo Silva”, and have confirmed that they are investigating this further.
Kick It Out added: “Racist stereotypes are never acceptable as ‘banter’, and we’re shocked that someone who is a role model to millions has failed to understand the discriminatory nature of his post.
“The FA has been notified and we believe that retrospective action should be taken, including mandatory education – which is vital to challenge offensive behaviour such as this.”